Board of Commissioners Meetings

155 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of Called Joint City/Utility Commission Work Session Meeting on November 15, 2022 A Called Joint Work Session of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Henderson, Kentucky, and Henderson Municipal Power & Light was held on Tuesday, November 15, 2022, at 2:30 p.m., prevailing time, in the third floor Assembly Room, Municipal Center, 222 First Street, Henderson, Kentucky There were present Mayor Steve Austin presiding: PRESENT: Commissioner Robert N. Pruitt Commissioner Bradley S. Staton Commissioner Rodney Thomas Commissioner Austin P. Vowels CITY STAFF MEMBERS included: William L. “Buzzy” Newman, Jr., City Manager; Dawn Kelsey, City Attorney; Maree Collins, City Clerk; Donna Stinnett, Community Relations Manager/Public Information Officer; Robert Gunter, Finance Director; Connie Galloway, Human Resources Director; David Wright, IT Network Administrator II; Victor Carson, IT Network Administrator I; and Marty Wilson, Police Officer ALSO PRESENT: Brad Bickett, Henderson Municipal Power & Light General Manager; Barbara Moll, Henderson Municipal Power & Light Chief Financial Officer; Brian Hardesty, Henderson Municipal Power & Light Chief Technology Officer; Chuck Tucker, Henderson Municipal Power & Light Transmission & Distribution Director; Linn Shannon, Utility Commission Chair; Randall Redding, Utility Commission Attorney; Sharon Farmer, Utility Commission Attorney; Tom Williams, Henderson Water Utility General Manager; Missy Vanderpool, Henderson Economic Development Executive Director ________________________ THE FOLLOWING AGENDA ITEMS WERE DISCUSSED: Henderson Municipal Power & Light Presentation  Brad Bickett, Henderson Municipal Power & Light General Manager, gave a brief presentation and introduced staff members.  Brian Hardesty, Henderson Municipal Power & Light Chief Technology Officer, presented information on Enabling Smart Communities and Automated Meter Infrastructure which will allow customers to access and manage daily usage details.  Brian Hardesty, Henderson Municipal Power & Light Chief Technology Officer, presented information on the current network services provided as well as the proposed new residential fiber internet service. Which would include: o Managed network services o Solutions to customers Mr. Hardesty explained that the internet continues to evolve, therefore services must also continue to evolve to accommodate customers. Regional Fiber Deployment – Kentucky Broadband has been appropriated to fund unserved and underserved landline services. Kenergy and KU will be participating and will be launching fiber services within the next three years.  Barbara Moll, Henderson Municipal Power & Light Chief Financial Officer, presented information on two requests that will be forwarded to the City Commission at the next regular meeting. This will include the issuance of a $21 million bond to fund the residential fiber network infrastructure and the automated metering systems and a rate increase ordinance in order to pay for these bonded projects. o It is proposed that the Bonds be approved by December and sold in January 2023 for a period of 25 years. o The proposed rate increase would be approximately 6%, which would raise approximately $2.3 million annually to cover the first seven years for the AMI project. DISCUSSION WAS HELD relating to the proposed rate; that all customers would be paying for this even though not all would be using the services; that this would be an overall  156 CITY OF HENDERSON – RECORD BOOK Record of Minutes of Called Joint City/Utility Commission Work Session Meeting on November 15, 2022 benefit to the utility and is anticipated to generate $10 million in revenues over ten years; revenues from services will allow smaller future rate increases; the rate for fiber services was compared to other providers like ATT and Kenergy; and that surrounding counties will be moving to fiber services within the next three years – if we don’t move forward with this project, we will be at a disadvantage. NO FORMAL ACTION WAS TAKEN BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS. ________________________ MEETING ADJOURN: MOTION by Commissioner Staton, seconded by Commissioner Thomas to adjourn. The vote was called. On roll call, the vote stood: Commissioner Pruitt ------ Aye: Commissioner Staton ---- Aye: Commissioner Thomas --- Aye: Commissioner Vowels --- Aye: Mayor Austin ------------- Aye: WITHOUT OBJECTION, Mayor Austin declared the work session adjourned at approximately 3:30 p.m. ATTEST: ________________________ Steve Austin, Mayor ________________________ December 22, 2022 Maree Collins, CKMC City Clerk